Skip to main content

tv   Lockup  MSNBC  November 30, 2013 7:00pm-8:01pm PST

7:00 pm
due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. how do i describe myself? mother [ bleep ]. >> inmate tries to leave jail the hard way. >> shoots him down, 50,000 volts. >> wend ahead and ordered a second -- i don't remember anything about that. >> convicted of her fifth drunk driving charge, a female inmate could lose everything. >> i wanted to tell you that you were a good wife are and a good mom. >> and --
7:01 pm
>> i can tell everybody that i had sex with hiv positive. sometimes it doesn't happen. okay. i'm sorry. >> an outcast inmate make as comment that leads to violence and panic. >> i am so uptight right now that i can't eat. i've been throwing up my food. grand rapids, michigan, is consistently ranked one of the nation's best places to live. it might nob seem that way, however, behind these circular walls just outside downtown. this is the kent county jail. while some are convicted, most of the thousand men and women here, are only charged with
7:02 pm
crimes and waiting trial for the resolution of their cases. >> do the crime, pay the time. you know? >> it's not the ideal setting in which to make friends. some do. jeremy feels like an outcast. >> jeremy is the model inmate. very quiet. never gets into trouble. he's generally in his cell and if he does come out of the cell, he comes and sits quietly. >> i don't consider anybody here friends. i'd rather be in here than out there with some of those people sometimes, because there's a lot of negative energy out there. there's not very much people that talk to me in here, because i'm gay. >> m. rithew says he encounters too many attitudes. >> you want to be gay, that's your business. i don't like homosexuals. if want to do it, go ahead, but
7:03 pm
it's not right. >> the inmates in his unit are not always welcoming of homosex was, he has another strike against him. he is hiv positive. not only that, his condition is what led to his high-profile arrest. >> do most people know what you're in for? >> yes. actually de tonight really understand, because they think i'm heefb for transmitting hiv are, but that's not what i'm in here for. >> he contracted hiv for a sexual ent counter seeking unprotected sex and soon found a willing partner. >> basically, he approached me on my -- saw my profile and said, basically he came over around we had sex, and then he left. >> merithew's partner, a married man living a straight life later told police he assured he he did not have hiv. following his encounter, he contacted him again under a
7:04 pm
different screen name. this time, merithew admitted to being hiv ponchts a couple days later the cops showed up at my door asking me questions about. that's one thing i don't -- i mean, why would someone want to invite a brother and uncle sam into your sex life? >> the judge allowed his mother to bond him out under the condition he did not place more personal ads. six months later, he was back in jail. >> i had a full bunch of nudity of myself as a profile picture and not on a gay website to hook up and they caught me. my bond was upped $300,000. >> though he tested negative, he was convicted of having sex with an uninformed partner while being hiv positive, and is now awaiting sentencing. >> what did you think you did wrong? >> i don't think i did anything wrong. >> maybe, can you seriously say that? >> yes. i don't think i'm guilty of anything that harmed anybody.
7:05 pm
that's for sure. this law isn't about really harming people. i mean, the dude's a married man. he's out having unprotected sex with complete strangers online. if he hasn't encountered something before he's very lucky. >> he could face up to 15 years in r in prison, and this isn't his first offense. two years earlier he was convicted of the same crime with a different man but only had to pay a fine. >> that guy, i don't know what his deal was, but he was hard-of-hearing, and we were drinking the night when we met. i made sure he was aware the next morning. >> ironically, he says he contracted the virus from a man who did not disclose his own hiv positive status. >> do you feel like the person that gave you hiv, that they should have told you? >> i take 100% accountability for me being affected. i knew about aids since, like, eighth grade. so i knew i was having unprotected sex, even though i was high at the time, that's no excuse. so i take full responsibility. >> but he feels differently
7:06 pm
about his current case. >> i'm taking half the responsibility, but i'm not taking responsibility for anything that happens to his wife or anything that happens to his children, because of the fact that he's out having unprotected sex. >> sounds a little like you're not taking responsibility. that's what it sounds like. >> okay. i take responsibility. i should tell everybody that i have sex and i'm hiv positive. sometimes it doesn't happen. okay. i'm sorry. >> i used to talk to him as a friend. because i wanted to bring him the gospel. not because i wanted to mikell with him. because i don't condone his activities. >> ruben was the first to seek me out basically because my kaps is high-profile, it's ones news. everybody knows my business. maybe i was attracted to him. as i learned his personality, oh, my god. this guy is kind of childish. really not attractive. >> i talked to him out of the kindness of my heart. when i saw that he was, like,
7:07 pm
liking me -- i mean, i'm like, dude, i talk to you but i'm not gay. you know, i'm not going -- especially being gay in jail is not a good thing to be called. >> florez himself is in jail for failure to register as a sex offender after he was found guilty of trying to have sex with a minor when he was 18. >> you're going to go to hell. a i told him, a building and you're going to have the basement and he got pissed off that. >> coming up, jeremy sets off a health crisis and ruben florez finds himself in the middle of it. >> it was a menace to the world. that's why they convicted him and found him guilty. now, he's still a menace to other people. >> then -- >> right now i'm ready to get out of here. >> another inmate makes a run for it. [ woman 1 ] why do i cook?
7:08 pm
to share with family. [ woman 2 ] to carry on traditions. [ woman 3 ] to come together even when we're apart. [ male announcer ] in stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and more, swanson makes holiday dishes delicious. [ camera shutter clicks ] now, that's cardworthy. [ man ] all right. here we go. ♪ cardworthy. [ camera shutter clicks ] cardworthy. [ beeping ] [ camera shutter clicks ] so not cardworthy. ♪ [ female announcer ] this holiday season,
7:09 pm
visit shutterfly.com for all your cardworthy moments and save up to 40%. ♪ [ chicken caws ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums!
7:10 pm
7:11 pm
inside grand rapids concept county jail, it's a small room usually manned by a couple of deputies and a cadet and central control, the nerve center of the jail. from here, staff can survey and control movement through the entire facility. >> i always say that we're kind of like 911 dispatchers crossed with air traffic controllers. >> where you going? >> central control staff can open and close every door in the jail, and the choreograph the movements of hundreds of inmates in a manner that is organized and safe. >> guys, to the left. >> just to be sure, deputies also take low-tech precautions as well. >> so usually when doing the perimeters we go around. we do these three times a day on day shift. just check the handles. make sure everything is locked up. i always check this back gate and that all secured back through there, because there's doors that lead to our building there. >> with layer upon layer of
7:12 pm
securities escaping from the consent county jail takes a good deal of plenty or a lot of luck. justin paul has had neither but that hasn't stopped him from trying. >> how far did you get? >> not very far. not even out the door most of the time. >> right now i'm ready to get outta here. >> oh. sap there's probably anywhere from seven to ten attempts where he attempted to i guess exit his cell or his room area. >> paul is awaiting trial on receiving and keevg a stolen motor vehicle to which he pled not guilty. >> i wasn't happy about being here. really, i shouldn't be here. i didn't know that car was stolen. >> many of paul's escape attempts were captured on surveillance cameras.
7:13 pm
>> currently doing what we call a black check. he's checking on the inmates. in order for him to do this he needs to come into a sub d room and words the individual's cell. mr. paul happens to be out in his day room time in the subday room time and seizes that opportunity and runs out through the sub day room to the larger day room. >> where were you trying to go when you were running? >> trying to get as far as i could get and trying to set a record. see how far i could get here. [ laughter ] >> how far did you get? >> not very far. >> even though he's gotten out into this general area, he still would have gone through at least four more doors and through several areas where officer officers are working. >> and i tried to keep going for the next one. and then i couldn't find one that was open, and then they rushed me. i just kind of said, ah -- >> from that time of this episode, when he actually got out of the d room area, he attempted at least two or three other times to exit his cell
7:14 pm
while the officers were there. he tried to, like, push through the officers. >> one of those attempts began with paul faking an illness. >> while the nurse attempts to take his blood pressure, he becomes combative, and jumps up off the bunk and you see the officers trying to retrain him and get him down. most likely, giving him direction to stay on the ground as they exit the cell. >> with paul not being compliant, paul decides to take another run for it before one of the officers stops him cold. >> she shoots him with a tase around he goes down. 50,000 volts. >> it was a rush. it just locks you up pretty good is what it does. it just -- locks all your muscles up. can't really move. >> most of the time you have no control over their ability to move or use their muscles or about five seconds. >> due to his frequent escape
7:15 pm
attempts, paul spent most of his time in segregation, locked in his cell 23 hours a day with little to do. >> turned into ten days. a five-month stay. supposed to be ten days. >> was it worth it? >> no. >> most are doing their time in general population. they can spend more time out of their cells socializing or watching tv, but in housing unit d-3a, graphic and disturbing developments might make some feel they're better off living by themselves. they involve hiv positive inmate jeremy merithew. the self-proclaimed outcast of d-3a, just moved out of the unit into a segregation cell. >> if-of-some of the inmates in d3 a accused me of putting semen on baloney sandwiches that i was giving to them, and claims sent
7:16 pm
me down here to the hole because of my own safety. he said they wanted to kill me. >> an individual came up to me and told me that jeremy had said that he was going to give everybody in the pod hiv. he had told people he put a special sauce on his sandwiches. >> extra mayonnaise. that's what i said. that was like four weeks ago. >> you're saying you did not do that? >> no, i did not do that. >> baloney sandwiches are not part of the jail's normal meal plan. they're usually given to inmates who require an additional meal due to medication. due to his hiv status, he was one of those but he gave his sandswiches away. >> sandwiches are popular and a lot of inmates of indigent and he was giving them out for free, i guess. if you can get anything in jail free, sandwiches or anything like that, you're going to take them. so they're going to be extremely popular. >> morning snack for you.
7:17 pm
there you go. >> there's so much, almost, hatred for him right now in him. i think i had 16 people eat sandswiches from him. >> ruben florez received several sandwiches from florez in recent weeks. he ate some and traded the rest with inmates. >> somebody offered me a bag of cookies or offered me soup, i'm going to grab it. i don't think nothing that somebody got a sick mind and going to try to infect me with something i could be diseased by. >> robert bailey also ate some of merithew's sandwiches. >> we're not talking about somebody getting a cold. we're talking about hiv, which is a life-threat ens and life debilitating diseases potentially. so -- it's pretty scary. i mean -- anxious to say the least. >> all right, fellas. here you go. >> taken extremely seriously. i had medical come up and talk to the individuals that wanted
7:18 pm
to be talked to. we got some of the sandwiches that he had handed out, and they'll be tested. >> some of merithew's sandwiches were recovered from the trash. those would be sent to an outside lab for testing. while the jail's medical staff conducts blood tests on the inmates who ate the other sandwiches. >> gonorrhea, syphilis. the hiv virus seems to be the one they're least worry and. outside the body it doesn't live long. if they come up positive, then that's up to the administration on what to do. >> here on a misdemeanor charge, i don't want to go home with a life sentence. >> whether he said it joking or not, i don't believe it was a joke. he was a menace to the world. that's why they convicted him and found him guilty. now, he's still a menace to other people. took the sandwich, and it's ill relevant. he should have not have been with us.
7:19 pm
coming up, the hiv scare leads to a fight that ends in pepper spray, and accusations. >> call me snitches, call me bitch-ass all because of that gay guy. the guy with hiv. and -- >> my husband is devastated. he's taking it harder than anybody. >> the fifth drunk driving conviction tears a family apart. stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the new flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare.
7:20 pm
7:21 pm
7:22 pm
the kent county jail in grand rapids house 1,000 inmates under the same sprawling room, but inside, two very different worlds. >> 87% of the people that are in jail here are male, 13% female. that holds pretty true from year to year to year. families, could care less what everybody else's problems are, but women care very deeply and they want to mother everybody in the house. >> this is arts and crafts today. >> can't count on -- >> i missed yesterday. >> arguments and fights do break out among female inmates, pamela
7:23 pm
would agree with the captain's description. when it comes to her own. >> it's like one big family in there. we all talk to each other, eat together. we help each other out, the ones in need. we support each other. somebody's upset, we're all right there. >> thank you. >> trace these on paper, and then i tear them out so that they have that ridged look, and then i color the outside on whatever colors i want. and then i put them on the back of an envelope, use deodorant, and you color it off -- and it makes it smell prit around it's going to look pretty when it's done. >> she's taking on the role of teacher today's showing other inmates how to make decorative jailhouse stationery. >> don't do that on your envelope. look what your doing. >> she's more than familiar with this. >> i like having a home. i like my husband. i love my husband. i love my kids. i love going to work. i love -- i love having that.
7:24 pm
>> it could be a while before she sees that life again. >> i have a drinking problem. so i got another charge on drinking and driving. my drunk driving which is bad. my husband was devastated. he's taken it harder than anybody. very mad. he was very mad at me. he is still very mad at me. he has every right to be. >> a good mother doesn't come to jail. >> i'm not drunk. i'm not sitting at home drinking every day. i don't drink in my house. i drink probably -- three or four times -- in, you know, three years. >> but that changed one night, and speckin who fought addictions in the past said she was having marital problems.
7:25 pm
she was on probation at the time. >> i decided to have a screw it driver, i deserved it. i went ahead and ordered a second drink. i don't remember anything after that. i don't remember driving. i don't remember going into the ditch. i don't remember walking up to these people's houses that they said i walked up to and asked for help. i was arrested right there, handcuffed and brought to the kent county jail. and this is where i've been ever since that night. >> she's been in jail three months. drinking that night led to her fifth dui conviction in the past ten year, and she is now awaiting sentencing. she once served 120 days in jail but knows this time it could be worse. >> my biggest concern right now is staying in county, not going to prison. i don't want to be far away. if i go prison, i won't see my family -- not very much. to where now at least i can, you know, they're 45 minutes away.
7:26 pm
i'm scared. i'm very scared. >> what do you miss most about home? >> holding my little girl in the rocking chair. getting up every morning and holding her in that chair. and being able to kiss her. and tell her i love her. she asked me the other day when i was coming home and i told her i didn't know, and she started crying, and it was hard. that's very hard. coming up -- >> this is one of the worst parts. getting in a cage, in a van. it's not normal. >> pamala heads to court to hear her sentence. >> two sandwiches and both sandwiches tested. >> and inspectors provide inmates with life and death answers about the allegedly tainted baloney sandwiches. while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain
7:27 pm
so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, like celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. don't take celebrex if you have bleeding in the stomach or intestine, or had an asthma attack, hives, other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides.
7:28 pm
get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history. and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion.
7:29 pm
i'm milissa rehberger. what's happening, breaking news in the entertainment world. actor paul walker died, killed
7:30 pm
in a scar accident. he starred in the fast & furious" movies. details still forms. more information as we get it. and confirmed dead in scotland after a police helicopter crashed on to the roof of a bar friday night. 32 others injured. now back to "lockup." due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. behind the walls of grand rapids kent county jail, tensions inside housing unit d-3a have been running high since hiv positive inmate jeremy merithew implied he com tamenated sandwiches with body fluids and gave them away to other inmates. officers have just been called to another emergency one floor below. the fight is broken out between two inmates.
7:31 pm
the officer on duty calls for backup. employs pepper spray in an attempt to break it up. but the fight continues. seconds later, backup arrives and the two men are separated. deputies then secure the unit, ordering all inmates back to their cells. >> told you -- >> inmates involved are byron tolbert -- and vasquez. with their eyes still stinging from the pepper spray, the inmates are taken to the segregation unit. they're playsed in separate cells and allowed to wash their eyes out. >> you need water? >> yes. >> right there. >> man, it stings. it burns.
7:32 pm
oh, man. it feels like my face is swelling up. >> what happened in there? >> he disrespected me. call immediate snitch, called me bitch-ass [ bleep ] all because of that gay guy, that guy with hiv. >> uh-huh. >> oh, man. ah -- said i was wrong for, ah, telling that people ate nut sandwiches. that wasn't wrong. that was not wrong at all. >> tolbert had been housed in the same unit and sarmy merithew. he was the first to report merithew's comments about the sandwiches to of os. >> extra mayonnaise, that's what i said. >> but in the eyes of some, that made tolbert a snitch. >> so he was moved down to here to get away from that pod, because he had informed up there, and when he came down here he kind of was bragging
7:33 pm
about that incident and how he came forward and gave us the information, and vazquez said, well, you're a snitch. started from there. and escalated. >> vasquez says he was honoring the long-standing convict code which says snitches should be punished. >> technically it is snitching. he kept calling me a bitch. we start, you know, had lunch and i was like, you a bitch, man. [ bleep ], the detectives. >> that was the right thing for me to do, was to tell them. if anybody -- if anybody do anything to anybody, they deserve to be told on. >> it wasn't a real thing. it was a joke. i mean, if anybody else would have said that in that pod, if they were giving sandwiches away and said, oh, how's the extra mayonnaise on your sandwich, everyone would be laughing. >> but merithew is not just anybody else.
7:34 pm
he's been twice convicted of having sexual intercourse with other men and not disclosing his hiv status. this deputy is assigned to merithew's unit. >> his comment of what he did to the sandwiches caused immense problems in the pod, puts me in jeopardy, my partners in yepty and everybody in the pod in jeopardy. i've heard m-2, m-3 all over the jail, and i just hope i never get a report like that again. >> merithew was awaiting sentencing on his latest conviction, failure to disclose. he's been placed in segregation for his own protection. the inmates that ate the sandwiches were informed it's unlikely they would have contracted hiv in this manner, even if he did contaminate them, but this has lensed their anxiety. >> if he was a gsh g-- i don't know. you have to wait to find out. >> mentally, i'm lost.
7:35 pm
i am so uptight right now that i can't eat. i've been throwing up my food. i've been so sick to the point where it's just -- i don't know if my life is changed yet or not. >> and come in to here for driving with suspended license, and now, somebody gave me a baloney sandwich which maybe got aids. >> i mean, either way, to even think that somebody would do something so gruesome to people. >> as the controversy spreads throughout the jail, other inmates have plenty to say as well. >> my thing is, the dude, if you knew the guy had hiv, what the [ bleep ] you doing eating sandwiches from imhad, for? you know what i'm saying? like, i don't even want to shake somebody's hand with hiv lit alone eat something out of their hand or their cell. >> we was in prison, he would have got butchered's they would have stabbed him. >> talk to you each individually. okay? and then get your story together. figure it out.
7:36 pm
>> the detectives take the inmates' statements and fill them in on the investigation. >> pictures were taken of him. it's in the report. >> then they delivered the news everyone has been waiting for. >> two sandwiches in the bag. both sandwiches tested and they were both negative. >> in fact, none of the tested sandwich it's came back positive, but that didn't mean merithew is off the hook. >> it will be presented to the prosecutor and given to the circuit court judge. >> later, lieutenant newman received the inmates' blood test results. >> those results also came back negative. no inmates were in danger, diseased as a result of that incident. >> with the sentence only days away, jail officials continue to keep merithew isolated. >> i shouldn't have said it, but die. to be honest, good in the sense
7:37 pm
it got me down here by myself and i've been just chilling and relaxing. i feel better being by myself sometimes because i'm introverted and i don't like being around a bunch of guys. especially unedit kaed guys pouncing at you and obviously homophobic and all kinds of other things. so it's just -- >> so in a way it was a good thing? >> yes, it was a good thing, for my mental health. as merithew awaits his sentencing, the time arrived for another inmate. three months earlier, pamala specken was convicted of dui for the fifth time in ten years. today she goes to court to hear her sentence. >> my guidelines are still 7 to 23 months. i'm expecting that the judge will go in the middle and give me 15 months. the worst that can happen is he can max me out to five years, if he wants. he's the judge. >> this is one of the worst parts.
7:38 pm
getting in a cage in a van. it's not normal. >> and it smells in there. >> bye, guys. coming up -- >> it blew my mind away. i hyperventilated. i had to sit down. i couldn't breathe. >> pamala speckin's judge dlivd her sentence. >> how long i've been here. >> and after multiple escape, dustin paul tries something new. you start at point "a."
7:39 pm
and you work hard to get to the next level. it feels good when you reach point b, but you're not done. for you, "b" is not the end. capella university will take you further, because our competency-based curriculum gives you skills you can apply immediately, to move your career forward. to your point "c." capella university. start your journey at capella.edu. store and essentially they just get sold something. we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. it's the ultimate sale on the only bed clinically proven to improve sleep quality. the sleep number bed. once you experience it, there's no going back. for one week only, queen mattresses start at just $599.99. and save 50% on our limited edition innovation series beds. plus special financing.
7:40 pm
only at a sleep number store. sleep number. comfort individualized. you get your coffee here. you get your hair cut here. you find that certain thing you were looking for here, but actually you get so much more. when you shop at these small local businesses, you support all the things that make your community great. the money you spend here, stays here. in this place you call your neighborhood. today is small business saturday. get out and shop small. [ camera shutter clicks ] now, that's cardworthy. [ man ] all right. here we go. ♪ cardworthy. [ camera shutter clicks ] cardworthy. [ beeping ] [ camera shutter clicks ] so not cardworthy. ♪ [ female announcer ] this holiday season,
7:41 pm
visit shutterfly.com for all your cardworthy moments and save up to 40%. ♪ and save up to 40%. so you can see like right here i can just... you know, check my policy here, add a car, ah speak to customer service, check on a claim...you know, all with the ah, tap of my geico app. oh, that's so cool. well, i would disagree with you but, ah, that would make me a liar. no dude, you're on the jumbotron! whoa. ah...yeah, pretty much walked into that one. geico anywhere anytime. just a tap away on the geico app. pamala speckin, a married
7:42 pm
mother of three children has just gotten back from court where a judge handed down his sentence on her most recent drunk driving conviction. >> i was going in there thinking i might get most 15 months. it's my fifth drunk driving. the judge pretty much lectured me, you know, and he was right. i could kill somebody or kill myself, and that's what i really got to think about. you know, i'm a threat to the community. if i'm on the roads, and he gave me three to five years, in prison. >> the sentence is final. and speckin must now wait for her transfer to the state's only female prison, about 2.5 hours from grand rapids. >> it blew my mind away. i hyperventilated. i had to sit down. i couldn't breathe. i felt like the whole world was just ending. my 4-year-old, i'm going to miss her first day at school. i'm going to miss her fifth
7:43 pm
birthday. her sixth birthday. i missed her fourth birthday. i'm going to miss christmases. my husband lost his wife. and he's doing it all by himself now. and that's mot the way not the it should be. >> her family lives in another part of kent county. with her husband raising two children and working, it's difficult to visit. the jail has taken steps to help. they allow families to visit from home via the internet. >> hi! oh, the kids are there. >> today, speckin's husband nick and their 4-year-old daughter bailey will visit from their living room. >> what's that? ooh -- what's that? >> tweety bird. >> that's tweety bird. >> that's nice. you can see something other than jail. like, i just see my living room. it's home. >> how are you? >> ah -- it's rough. >> yeah. >> because rer transfer to prison could come any day, this might be the last time speckin
7:44 pm
sees her family for a long time. >> yeah. >> possibly years. >> all right. well -- i wanted to tell you that you were a good wife and a good mom. and i wanted to tell you that. before whatever happens. you know? that's something that i wanted to say to you. okay? >> and i love you very much. >> i love you, too, and i needed to hear that. thank you. and i'm still very sorry for all this. i know this is -- i don't even know. i can't -- i can't make up any, you know -- it is what it is. i'm sorry. >> i can't believe it went from -- laying in bed next to each other to -- this. this is the last time we're
7:45 pm
going to talk for a while. >> i'm not going to call home. you don't want me to call home ever? >> i can't take the calls. i don't know how you're going to call here. we can't take collect calls. >> i don't want to do three years away from my family. i don't -- i don't even know how to do it. >> all right, honey. i love you. i'm going to hang up. >> tell her e love her. >> i love you. >> i love you, baby. >> i love you, too. >> okay. >> i guess i should be grateful after just -- they're just saying good-bye for three years and not forever. and i hope my husband and i are still together. he's paying for my mistakes. >> speckin will soon leave the jail on a state prison transport bus to begin her sentence. but dustin paul will still be
7:46 pm
here for a while. >> how do i describe myself? i'm a mother [ bleep ]. that's the only way to describe myself. >> over the past five months, paul has been trying to leave the jail through his own ill-fated escape attempts. >> ooo-a i know there's no way out of here. that's not going to happen. i'm really just upset i was in jail. you know? i just wanted to say [ bleep ] you for -- >> escape can carry up to a ten yooesh prison sentence. since the farthest paul ever got was the day room of the housing unit, they have not filed criminal charge, instead, kept him locked up in segregation. >> my beard represents how long i've been here. the beard, is how long i've been here. >> lately, paul ceased escape attempts and giving him a new look. because of his good behavior, jail officials moved him to a less restrictive housing unit.
7:47 pm
>> everybody thought, there's no way we're going to change his behavior. to see him today, he's a totally different person. even to communicate and speak with, he's not the same person as when he came in. run of the real breaking points was getting him to communicate with staff and his family members. for a long time he wasn't communicating with anybody, and we ended up, when he was in administrative, getting it to where he was able to have visits with his family and that seemed to be the turning point, when he started changing attempting the negative scenes we were seeing earlier. >> i'm getting ready to do a visit. that's the highlight of the week. so to speak. >> 2:00 for dustin paul. >> the person who visits paul the most is the woman who helped raise him. his grandmother sheila. >> i'm sure that he hear this from every grandmother, but he is a real good-hearted kind person and never was in trouble his whole life.
7:48 pm
never even got in a fight in school. but i think basically there was a substance abuse, periodically, through the years. that's what caused his behavior. >> me and my grandmother are really close. she's like a second mom to me, basically. my grandmother. >> we've always been very close. very close. >> though his grandmother arrived in person to visit. >> hey, dusty. >> even at the jail, visitation is conducted through a video link between the housing unit and a visitor center. >> here's the news of the week. right after i left you, a few hours i started choking really hard, like -- couldn't breathe. so i went to emergency, and i was there for four days. >> hmm. >> so they diagnosed me with pneumonia, copd, congestive heart failure. >> really? >> yeah. they're going to monitor me real closely. >> that is not good. >> no, it's not good.
7:49 pm
it sounds horrible. >> i'll say a prayer for you. >> thank you. but it's good that they caught it. you know? >> right. >> and that i went to emergency. >> i had to stay positive so he can be positive, too. he said, i don't know what i would ever do, grand ma, if you weren't in my life. you know? that's how he feels. >> i love you very much. >> okay. i love you, too. >> i just -- move forward. on the right track. >> yeah. all can you do. >> yep. that's right. okay. we'll see you next -- week. >> okay. >> all right. have a good day, grandma. >> you, too. love you. >> all right. all right. love you, too. >> bye. >> it's not very -- it's not very good, you know, i worry about her dying while i'm in here, now, because, then, that wouldn't be a good thing at all. so -- it makes me worry about my
7:50 pm
grandma. i'm in here, there's nothing i can do to help her, unfortunately. coming up -- >> all's i ask is that you wear a condom. don't do it in our home and don't catch anything. >> pamala speckin takes an unconventional stoep hold they are family together. and because people are saying, you put seminole fluids in foods you were sharing with other inmates. >> jeremy merithew faces an angry judge on the day of his sentencing. it gets an impressive 34 highway mpg and comes with no charge scheduled maintenance. and right now you can drive one home for practically just your signature. sign. then drive. get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on any new 2014 volkswagen. hurry, this offer ends december 2nd. for details, visit vwdealer.com today
7:51 pm
7:52 pm
7:53 pm
good-bye, everybody! bye! >> i love you. >> love you. write me. >> pamala speckin spent her last night at the kent county jail. her transfer to state prison has
7:54 pm
come through and she will now leave to serve a three to five-year sentence for her fifth drunk driving conviction. >> you were a good wife and a good mom. i just can't believe it went from laying in bed next to each other to -- this. >> speckin recently said good-bye to her husband. afterwards she wrote him a letter way proposal she hopes will keep them together. >> i know that i'm going to be gone for a long time, and he goes to work every day. takes care of our home, our children. he's got to have something outside of that. this is a letter to my husband. it says, nick, i want you to know that i don't expect you to stay faithful. all i ask is that you wear a condom. don't do it in our home, and don't catch anything. be safe. don't fall in love. put my face on whoever you're --
7:55 pm
doing that with. just get it done, do the deed and walk away. i love you. give the kids love for me. i don't think he'll do this in a million year, just because i know him. but i want him to feel okay. i don't want him to leave -- i don't want him to leave -- leave me for somebody else. you know? because of that. i wish i wouldn't have picked up a drink. i had choices, and i made the bad ones. now i have to suffer the consequences. i don't like it, but it is what it is. >> there's no way to ever know if i'll pick up a drink again and get behind the wheel. i've got to pray that i won't and i can say that i won't, but
7:56 pm
i've said that before and here i sit. and it's a disease. it's called addiction. and as much as we want to say no, sometimes we just can't. we just can't. it won't be long before jeremy merithew might also find himself inside a transfer van to state prison. he's due to be sentenced today for not disclosing to a man he had sex with he had hiv overt internet. saying he contaminated sandwiches with hiv is also at issue. >> i'm not inside his mind so i don't know how he's going to do that. it might have to do with how he makes his decision. >> the court therefore sustains the -- >> it doesn't take long for the
7:57 pm
judge to affirm merithew's fear es. >> removed from the cell he's in. put in an isolation ward, for his own safety. saying he put seminole fluids in the foods you are share wig other inmates, that you have the ability to have in your cell, only because of your medical condition. if it's not true, why doesn't mr. merithew then have the absolute ability to say it's not true. i'm just kidding around, ha, ha, or words to that effect and at least takes whatever affirmative steps he is capable of taking to stop this problem? really, it be most analogized it's like shouting fire in a crowded theater. >> merithew will be sentenced op three charges. two charges of hiv for having oral and anal sex and use of a sand cl to commit a crime. >> and count three, use of a computer for not less than six
7:58 pm
months, no more than seven years, credit for 113 days servened previously. on counts one and two the defendant will serve mot less than 24 hoss, no more than four years. these counts will all run concurrently. >> merithew is sentenced to a total of 4 1/2 to 7 years but will face a lifelong sanction as well. >> in addition, the defendant shall be required to apply with all sex offenderses registry act i am convinced after not having responsibility of presiding over this case the entire time in circuit court the desert is either unwilling or incapable of following the requirements of the law, and there is simply not any evidence to suggest that he will change that behavior in the future. >> as a sex offender, merithew's name and address will be displayed on a pup liblic list the rest of his life. >> and transfer to the department of corrections. thank you. >> registers as a sex offender
7:59 pm
over this case, i don't know how i feel about it right at the moment. i mean, i don't agree with it. registering as a sex offender is a big deal to me, because usually people associate that with pedophiles and rapists. i did not rape anybody and i don't molest small children. >> now facing several years in prison, merithew could find himself in more trouble, if his urges get the better of him, can i remain secelibate for four years? that's a good question i don't know. i'll do my best. i suppose. i think i probably could. it's just about controlling yourself, i suppose.
8:00 pm
due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. >> america's prisons. dangerous. often deadly. there are 2 million people doing time every day. it's a battle to survive and to maintain order. >> down on your feet, down. >> pendleton juvenile is the last stop in indiana for young offenders who committed serious crimes. we spent months inside where the staff is determined to rehabilitate impulsive teens who are often angry and violent. this is "lockup: pendleton juvenile, extended stay."

109 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on